It's Here! Introducing MokaFive for iOS.

It seems as though a single day doesn't go by without me seeing a slew of new articles published about the iPad and its increasing penetration of the enterprise market. In fact, the iPass 2012 Mobile Workforce Report recently found that 64 percent of mobile workers now carry a tablet (the vast majority being iPad); most using it for work—at least occasionally. And the iPhone is even more pervasive.

We at MokaFive have long since recognized the utility of Apple in the enterprise, and wanted to extend the security and management of our MokaFive Suite to these now near-ubiquitous devices. As a result, it is now my great pleasure to introduce MokaFive for iOS.

This new product—which uses an encrypted data container called “LiveData”—appears to end users as an iOS app. It offers secure access to sanctioned corporate network resources and fileshares. They can view files, and even cache them locally for offline use.

Of course, this being MokaFive, everything is centrally managed. LiveData can be wiped with a click of a button.

Remote desktops can leave you stranded.

As opposed to being a remote desktop (like Citrix Receiver, for example, which requires you to access a heavy weight Windows virtual machine over the network connection, from an iPad or iPhone), MokaFive for iOS is purpose-built for a rich, native experience. We based our approach on three core tenets:

1) Manage what matters—your corporate data. (The device is immaterial, whether corporate-issued or BYOD).
2) Ensure that data is always available, both online and offline.
3) Enable security and management from a central console.

So when it came time for MokaFive to develop our own iOS app, we thought long and hard about how to integrate these three tenets. We wanted to avoid the deficiencies we saw in competing solutions.

For example, VDI solutions do not work offline. Not good enough. It is also difficult and clumsy to navigate a virtual Windows desktop with a fingertip. Also not good enough. Data sync applications are often unmanaged. Lastly, MDM solutions put the whole device under management, ignoring users' concerns about privacy around their personal apps. These solutions are overkill. They remind me of Abraham Maslow's quote, “When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”

So we created a secure, encrypted container that could run on an iPad or iPhone, isolated from user data and applications. This data “bubble” is easily managed by IT in the same fashion it manages its other corporate images and data—no need for a separate management console. If a device is lost or stolen, or if an employee leaves the company, IT can remotely wipe out the entire data container (without affecting any personal data on the device). Instead of a Windows VM, we created an app with a native iOS interface, not a kluged Windows OS “smooshed” into a tablet.

MokaFive for iOS can connect to any network resource or file share. Data in the cloud can be downloaded to the iOS device and cached locally for offline use. Users can also download data from their MokaFive Live PCs (if have been have been backed up to a corporate cloud).

MokaFive for iOS is customizable by way of dozens of policies and security settings. Don't want users to email documents to themselves, or want to prohibit copy-and-paste from their corporate data container to their personal folders? No problem. IT can control all of that. This infinite customizability makes the product incredibly versatile.

So, as we get set to release MokaFive for iOS, I feel we have found a way to fulfill key enterprise requirements without incurring the liabilities we have seen in so many other products.

• Enable secure data access from BYO iPads and iPhones.
• Provide an interactive, native iOS experience.
• Control and manage the important stuff—your data.
• Run on BYO devices with a rich user experience.

MokaFive for iOS is priced at $50/user/year and can be deployed in conjunction with MokaFive Suite for your desktops and laptops.

Now MokaFive truly offers a single solution for managing your data across all devices— laptops, desktops, tablets; corporate-issued and personal BYOD machines and devices.

Whilst the concept of being able to manage files in a secure encryped coatiner, what are the file types supported or can be viewed from this container?
Can the Management server control the file types that can be downloaded?
Do you have any plans to add plug-ins like iAnnotate to allow a user to put comments on a file that is being viewed?

We support viewing of most standard file formats including office files (ppt, xls, doc), music, video, pdfs and many more. The admin controls what file shares and data sources the user has access to. We are definitely looking to add annotation capability. Would you like to be part of our beta program?

Hi there! No, you do not. I have passed your info to our UK office, in case you’d like some followup. Feel free to try the product out (http://www.mokafive.com.trial) for free. See what you think! Cheers, Brianna Stevens, Product Marketing Manager, MokaFive